The Progeny Revelation
by cat.astrophe.x
Summary: Several years after the end of Season 12. Leonard forever dreamt of being a father, but due to Penny's reluctance to have children, he respected her wishes and let go of that idea, and even ends up denying Zack's request use his sperm to have a child of his own. Now it seems that his dream may have come true after all... just not in the way he planned.
1. Chapter 1

The Progeny Revelation

15 years after the end of Season 12. Leonard forever dreamt of being a father, but due to Penny's reluctance to have children, this dream never actually came true… or so he thinks.

"Hey Penny, looks like the results are finally in!"

Leonard and Penny have been impatiently waiting for their ancestral lineage results, and they couldn't have come in at a better time. It's the beginning of a new semester at CalTech, so Leonard has been bombarded with emails from undergraduate and graduate students begging to assist him in his lab research. Endless floods of brown-nosing have drowned him these past few weeks, and he just needed to get his mind off all these babies who honestly have no idea what they're talking about.

Well, except for one person.

Her name is Ophelia Barnett. She's only 21 and is already working on her PhD. Her grades are stellar, and she has already collaborated with some big name researchers at his alma mater, Princeton, as well as a few other big research labs. Surely, she'd be a great addition to team—one who even Sheldon could tolerate! Leonard just had a good feeling about this candidate.

Leonard gets to the apartment, where he's greeted by his beautiful wife, Penny. They give each other a quick peck on the lips, just as they usually do after their long days at work.

"So how was your day? Have those crazy college kids gotten off your back yet?" Penny asked.

"Ugh, no, they're still at it. But there is one who really stood out to us… even Sheldon thought she had potential. She's like a savant, and I think she is quite suited to help us out with our particular research area. I'm just about to reply to her email to schedule an interview and get to know her better."

"Dang, Sheldon likes her? She really must be something special, then! But hey, maybe after this, you won't be so overwhelmed and you can focus a little better."

"Yeah, I hope so too."

Leonard situates himself at his desk and begins to write back to this supposed once-in-a-generation genius mind. As he's working on his reply, his computer pings, and a notification pops up in the upper corner.

YOUR ANCESTRY RESULTS ARE READY.

"Hey Penny, looks like the results are finally in!"

"Wait, don't open it yet!" Penny runs quickly to their bedroom, grabs her tablet, comes back out to the living area. "Yay, I got mine too! Let's open our results together", she excitedly suggests.

"Great idea!", says Leonard. The two gather next to each other on the couch, anxiously waiting to see the mystery that lies inside their DNA.

"Hah, imagine if I were part Asian. That would be insane!" says Penny.

"Oh please, you only want that so you have a better excuse for having "soup" in Chinese tattooed on your back," Leonard teases.

"I swear to god the guy told me it meant "courage".

"And how drunk were you?" He says jokingly.

"Just shut up and open the email."

…

Well, there was nothing surprising at all about their ancestry. Leonard is 45% Polish, 20% Native American, 20% Italian, and 15% Irish. Nothing out of the norm for him. And Penny is indeed not Asian, but 55% Italian, 25% English, 15% German, 3% Ashkenazi Jewish, and 2% Sub-Saharan African. Okay, the last two were pretty shocking, but they haven't seen anything… yet.

"Ooh, hey, look, you can see if your share DNA with someone else" says Penny. "Oh wow, 8 possible 2nd cousins. Oh, wow, and it says 3 of them live in California, and 4 are in Nebraska."

"Wait, where is that? I know my sister did this test through this same site, so maybe she's in my list."

Penny points out the section in the drop-down menu. As he opens his list up, his sister's name does pop up under POSSIBLE SIBLINGS, but not without finding something else marked right above it:

POSSIBLE DESCENDANTS (1 NEW RESULT)

He was speechless. They're wrong. They must be wrong. There's no way he has a child. He would know already, wouldn't he? How could he not know that there is someone out there who shares half of his own genetic makeup?

"No. No, no, no, this has to be a mistake."

"What's wrong?" asked Penny.

"It says in my results that there is someone out there who might be my child." Leonard says, looking distraught.

Penny shifts closer. "Oh, Leonard, sweetie," she says as she begins to hug him. "I can't imagine what you must be feeling right now. I know how much being a father meant to you."

Leonard leans his head on her shoulder. "I don't even know how I'm supposed to react right now. I'm just so mixed with my emotions. What do I even do, or say, if I even should do or say something?"

"Do you have any idea who could possibly be their mother?" She asks.

"That's the worst part. I can't think of anyone who I've could've gotten pregnant."

"Well, I know this was so long ago, but didn't you and Sheldon go and donate to a sperm bank once? It's totally possible someone might have picked yours."

"We walked in, but we ended up not feeling super comfortable with the idea… well, by "we" I mean Sheldon. We left without even finishing the application."

"So, it could be any of your past girlfriends."

Leonard nods.

Silence fills the room along with slight tension from Penny. Priya, Stephanie, Elizabeth, Leslie, Joyce… maybe even someone she doesn't even have a clue about. Last thing she needs is to find out that her husband, her best friend, has been cheating on her or hiding this whole other life from her. It's hard for her to believe someone as loyal and sweet as Leonard would do that to her, but she starts to wonder if she really does know the man she has been married with for so long, or he is just a huge lie.

"Honey, are you okay? What's wrong?" asks Leonard.

Without a single word, she swiftly gets up, grabs her keys and phone.

"Where are you going?"

Still silent, she storms out of the apartment, and slams the door behind her. Leonard runs after her.

"Please Penny, don't leave. Why are you upset? Let's talk about this, please!" He exclaims as he chases after her.

She turns to him, fuming, with tears running down her face. "I've heard enough! Just leave me alone!" she yells at him. She continues to sob as she goes down to the lobby and barges out of the building.

Leonard sits on the stairs crying, scared that his "dream" of being a father has now become his biggest nightmare.


	2. Chapter 2

**Hello, everyone! I just want to thank you all so much for all your lovely reviews on my first chapter. I don't often write fanfiction, but I have been watching TBBT for a super long time (since the beginning, pretty much) and I still cannot believe it is coming to an end, so I feel this is a nice way for me to cope with losing one of my favorite shows, as well as unexpectantly losing other things and all these changes that are happening in my life all at the same time. I don't know how often I will be uploading new chapters—I'm in my last two semesters of college, so I'm quite busy with classes as well as with work and other activities—so I thank you in advance for being so patient! Enjoy chapter 2! :)**

Bernadette pops open a bottle of Chardonnay. Penny is sobbing hard as she holds her head in her hands at Howard and Bernadette's dining table, still overwhelmed by the news that she received only a little while before.

"Look, I know this is a lot to take in, but are you sure you're not kinda overreacting?" Bernadette asks as she pours both of them a glass. "I mean, I get it, the thought of Leonard of being with someone else, the thought of some human could be out there sharing half of Leonard's DNA and the other half, well, not being yours. But do you really think it could have been while he was with you? I mean, this is LEONARD here… the same guy who proposed to you, like, a gazillion times, and followed you around like a freaking abandoned puppy."

"Yeah, but does that excuse him for making out with Mandy Chow while we were together and deciding to not tell me until right before we got married? Or how he did it with Dr. Plimpton only shortly after I dumped him… or how he went right to smooching Alice not even a few days after Priya went back to India?" Penny sheds more tears. "And here I am, having been so faithful to him all these years! For all I know, he's just another one of those stupid jerks that I've always been so stupid enough to fall for… but he was smart enough to get me to marry him."

"Geez, his mom's right, he really is needy for approval, isn't he?" Bernadette says bluntly in that mousy voice of hers.

Penny glares at her. "Not helping!"

"Okay, okay, I'm sorry you married an insecure boy with mommy issues—"

"BERNIE! Seriously, like you're the last person that should be pegging that joke"

"Wow, this is actually bothering you", Bernadette says, concerned. She scooches her seat next to Penny. "You usually take those sorts of jokes lightly, I'm really sorry," she says, slightly rubbing her back to comfort her friend. "Look, I know Leonard made a few bad moves on his part, I mean hell, I married to HOWARD!" Penny giggles. "Really? Now you're laughing?" Bernadette asks snarky. Penny shuts up. "Yeah, in a moment like this, it's hard to believe that you can trust him, but honestly, you should. All of those bad moves happened during moments where he wasn't with you." She touches Penny's ring. "He's with you. Despite the things before, he's been with you since he first laid eyes on you, and he'll always be with you. Trust me, he knows that he's never going to find anyone better, more beautiful than you."

Penny dries her tears. "You're so right. Leonard's so great, I don't know what I was so worried about." She looks at Bernadette and softly smiles. "Thank you, Bernie," Penny says, and embraces Bernadette with a huge hug.

"Of course, I'm always here for you," she replies as she returns the hug. "Now drink your wine!"

"Ummm… no thank you."

Bernadette gasps as her mouth drops lower than she ever knew possible. "HOW ARE YOU PREGNANT?!"

"Pfffft… Me? Pregnant? C'mon, I'm 49… like, aren't you a scientist? In, like, biology? I'm TOTALLY too old for that!"

Bernadette glares at her.

"Okay, bye!" Penny quickly tries to leave, but a certain plastic object falls out of her purse and onto the kitchen floor. They look at each other, then at the stick, and like crazy beasts, they both lunge for it and push and shove each other, accidentally knocking it even further into the kitchen area. They're both wrestling, pulling hair, fighting to try to get it first before other gets the chance.

Howard gets in the house. "Bernie, I'm home!" Howard shouts as he walks to the living area, and then he hears all this screeching and grunting from the kitchen. "Bernie?" He asks, wondering on earth is going on. He walks into the kitchen, sees the chaos that is being unleashed, and walks right back out as he pulls out his phone. "Hey, Raj, you busy?" "Nah. I just don't feel like being home right now, let's go." And just like that, he's gone.

…

"Well no freakin' wonder you were so melodramatic earlier. You could've told me you were, oh I don't know, TWO MONTHS PREGNANT?!" Bernadette exclaims.

"Hahah, yeah, sorry," says Penny, grinning.

"Does Leonard even know yet?"

"No. I've been trying to process this news myself, honestly. You know I never really wanted kids," Penny explained. "I was planning on telling him, but you know miscarriages are more likely to happen the older you get, so I was scared to tell him and then not be able to carry it to term. It would crush him."

"You need to tell him. You need to let your feelings out and be honest with him. All this stress you're putting on yourself, all the drama from trying to hide this from him, isn't going to do you any good for you, nor for the baby. And remember, no matter what happens, you'll always have each other. If he really wanted kids that badly, you wouldn't have been his wife for this long."

"Okay, I'll tell him right when I get home!"

"Yeah, you will!" Bernadette cheers. Penny is still standing there. "Well?"

"What?"

"GO HOME, PENNY!"

"Right, sorry." She whispers, swiftly turns around and makes her way out.


	3. Chapter 3

Another day in the lab… another day messing around with lethal lasers…

PING.

Leonard rushes to his laptop, and looks in his e-mail, only to find yet another 15% off coupon for Schezuan Palace. Sigh. He checks the time and date. It's Thursday, 12:32. "Dang, I guess she's never coming. I was really looking forward to possibly getting to work with her."

…

Knock, knock, knock. "Dr. Cooper?"

"One moment."

One would never think in their wildest dreams that Sheldon Cooper of all people would have a single thought or feeling of attraction for anyone or anything, let alone a woman. But for Dr. Cooper, this was no ordinary being. No, this was the most intellectual, most interesting, most beautiful being who could ever possibly exist… and that's even including himself.

He checks his hair in the reflection of his laptop screen. Still perfect.

He opens the door.

"It's noon, we scheduled to work over those equations for your latest project." She stated.

"You are quite right. Please, come in, we have… much to do."

"Very well, Dr. Cooper" She steps into his office, and he closes the door behind her.

Her luscious brunette locks cascading from her head down to her mid-back, just beautifully transitioning down to her very feminine and narrow waist, curving out to form her full and round bottom.

God, she's beautiful.

He takes her arm, spins her around, and gazes in her beautiful hazel eyes, her clear skin like porcelain. Her rosy lips, just eagerly awaiting to meet his.

"So, where were we, Dr. Cooper?" she whispered in her sultry voice, slightly pulling him closer to her.

"Ah, yes, where were we?" he responded in such a silky but husky voice none of his friend would ever fathom coming out of his mouth.

They proceed to embrace each other as their lips meet in short, soft little pecks that then fall into deeper, longer kisses where their tongues begin to slowly dance to their unique sensual rhythm. Dr. Cooper's mouth then starts to slowly migrate from her lips, along her jawline, and down her lovely neck, licking, kissing, nibbling, sucking on every little surface of her skin he approaches.

"Ohhh, oh god… ohhhh Sheldon…" She proceeds to copy Sheldon's movement, giving all her attention to his lower neck, leading to his collarbone.

"Ohhh, oh goodness yessss ohhhhh Ophelia…" Sheldon softly cries, enjoying every sensation being created by this amazing, dare he say it, angelic human being. He starts to unbutton her silky periwinkle blouse when…

.knock. "Sheldon?"

Disgruntled from their inconvenient interruption, they quickly separated themselves from each other as he fixes his shirt and Ophelia rebuttons her blouse and sits herself in one of the chairs near Sheldon's desk.

Opening the door, Sheldon replies, "What do you want, Leonard?"

"Have you heard anything back from Dr. Barnett? Apparently, word has spread throughout the department about her previous work, and the president desperately wants somebody to take her on to better our reputation. He's even proposing to give a research grant to whichever project she gets added on."

"Heard anything back?" Sheldon laughs, "Oh Leonard. Leonard, Leonard, Leonard, when will you ever learn?"

"Learn what? Why are you laughing? This is serious!" Leonard says as he walks into Sheldon's office.

Sheldon shuts and locks the door behind him, "Oh, just how ultimately no one can resist having a little piece of Dr. Sheldon Cooper—"

"Not even myself." Ophelia says as she stands and turns to face Leonard. "Dr. Ophelia Barnett, it's a pleasure to meet you." she says as she extends her hand towards Leonard.

Leonard reaches out to shake her hand, his face in utter shock. "It is a pleasure to meet you too, I'm Dr. Leonard Hofstadter."

"Yes, Sheldon has told me about you. It is such an honor to get the chance to work with you two, especially after reading your other works like your superfluid theory,"

"Wait, work with… did you already accept to work with us?"

"Yes I did, like about 2, 3 weeks ago, although I didn't know you were part of Dr. Cooper's team. Sheldon was the very first one to reply to my inquiry email, and we got along quite well at our… um… meeting, and from then on he agreed to let me assist him a few hours a week," she explained, avoiding any blushing from thinking about her _assisting_ with Sheldon.

"Oh…" Leonard sighs.

"Is everything okay, Dr. Hofstadter?" asks Ophelia, slightly confused by his response.

"Yes, umm… Sheldon, can we talk?"

"K, I'm just gonna step outside." Ophelia walks herself out.

"Sheldon, what the hell?!"

"Do you not like her?" asks Sheldon.

"Like her—she's amazing!"

"So what are you mad about?"

"You didn't include me in this decision! Sheldon, we're supposed to be a team, you have to include me in these things!"

"Excuse you, I did too! About 3 weeks ago, I received her email, along with many other desperate inquiries from childish students who could never amount to producing high-quality work like ours, let alone assist. When I came to your lab, I said 'hey, did you get an email from a Dr. Ophelia Barnett, she actually seems like a good option for—' and then you decided to rudely interrupt me, and say, 'Sheldon, just pick whoever you want, that's the last thing I am even wanting to think about', and I responded with, 'Well, okay then, that was much easier than I imagined it would pan out', and then it all came together from there."

"Did you ever think that I might've said that because I was, oh I don't know, OVERWHELMED AND STRESSED AND JUST WANTED EVERYONE TO GET OFF MY BACK?" Leonard yelled in frustration. "I didn't actually mean to literally go and pick whoever you wanted."

"Again, do you not like her?"

"No, I do like her!"

"So what's the problem? You like her, I surprisingly like her, she likes us… I don't get why you're so mad! Honestly, Leonard, you really need to stop your soy milk intake."

Leonard thought for a moment. "You know what, you're right. She's an amazing scientist, and you did make an effort to include me. I guess I got jealous that you got to meet her before I did, but you did make a great choice. I'm sorry for getting mad at you, buddy."

"Apology accepted," Sheldon replied. "Although I did invite you to be part of our first meeting, did you not read my email?"

"Which email?"

"The one I forwarded you with Dr. Barnett's inquiry and CV, as well as my response to her about meeting her in person," Sheldon says. He pulls up his email and scrolls a little to find this said email. "Oh, wait, you did respond, although the response was only received a few days ago. That's odd."

"Wait, what, I did?!"

"Yes, right here, it says that you would like to meet her, and asking if 12 today work… Well, we all know how that went."

"Crap! No wonder I didn't hear anything from her, I responded to your forwarded email, not to her original one." Leonard gets upset with himself that he screwed up so much.

"Sir, please step away from me, or I will report you!" exclaimed what sounded like Ophelia's voice outside.

Sheldon sprints out of his chair, faster than ever, and out to the hallway with Leonard following behind.

"C'mon, Ophewia, you know you'd wather wohk with the fowce of Kwipke—"

"Get your hands away from her, Kripke!" Sheldon shouts as he pushes him away from her with his mighty Texan strength.

"Oh hey Coopeh, think you can just twy to steal this bombshell away fwom me?"

"That is NOT how to talk—"

"He's not _twying_ anything, you idiot". Everyone turns their attention to Ophelia. "Dr. Cooper took me when every other person in this department couldn't care less about giving a chance to any student—grad or undergrad—because their work was "too precious". Only now that the university is bribing money is when the rest of you decide to actually pay attention to me and my achievements."

Silence filled the air.

"I sent an email about an hour ago to the president, saying that I will officially be assisting Dr. Sheldon Cooper and Dr. Leonard Hofstadter, and no one else. Dr. Kripke, I suggest that you leave, and if you anything like this again, I will report you. Dr. Hofstadter, it was a pleasure meeting you, and Dr. Cooper, I will see you later." Ophelia sees herself out of this mess of a day.

…

Leonard arrives back home, stressed from the confrontation involving Dr. Barnett and about what crap Penny is going to give him now with this whole "mystery child" thing.

He gets up to their apartment, and opens and the door to find Penny standing in the middle of the living room.

"Hey, is everything okay—"

"Leonard, I'm pregnant."


	4. Chapter 4

"Wait… whaaaat?" Leonard asks, very confused.

"I know, I know, you probably have a lot of questions," Penny said, exasperated. "Trust me, I'm just as surprised as you are… but isn't this great, though? You've always wanted to be a dad!" She goes up and hugs him.

"Ummm…" he replies

She immediately lets go and pushes him off "Ummm? UMMM? I just told you I'm carrying your freaking baby, and all you have to say is UMMMMMMM?!"

"Uhhhhh…"

"What the hell, Leonard?!"

"Okay, okay, I'm sorry…" he said, sitting down on the couch. Penny follows and sits closer to him. "Today was kind of a rough day, and with that whole thing with this 'mystery child', it was just a little unexpected to hear." Leonard moves closer and holds her hands in his and looks into her eyes. "Penny, this is super exciting. I can't believe we're having a baby… but…"

"But what, sweetie?" Penny asks, slightly worringly.

"Are you sure you want to go through this? You said you didn't want to have children."

"I know I said that, and trust me, when I saw that pregnancy test come out positive, I was really scared. And I still am. I mean, the other night when you found out that there is someone out in the world who is your biological child? That was the same night that I was originally going to tell you, but I got so paranoid over the idea of—"

Penny begins to tear up.

"Of me… being with someone else… just so I could have a child?" Leonard asks

Penny nods, as she begins to cry.

"Oh my gosh, Penny," Leonard hugs her. "Penny, I'm so sorry… I had no idea that was how you felt. Look, I know in the past, before we got married, I may have slipped up. But when I told you that night going to Vegas that I would be completely honest you, I meant that. I love you so, so much, and please believe me when I say that if I had any idea that someone from my past had my baby, I would not hide that you. I don't want to hide anything from you, and I will not hide anything from you. And yes, I did dream of being a father, but as in being the father of our children, not anyone else's," He wipes her tears and kisses her forehead.

"I know you wouldn't do that. I just freaked out… I guess it's just maternal instincts already kicking in," Penny laughs. "Well, that, and just thinking about what happened with Amy and Sheldon not too long ago didn't really help me at all."

"Yeah, I know, that whole thing still sickens me," says Leonard. "The poor guy still has to deal with Kripke daily, even after all that's happened. I know he can be a pain, I mean I lived with the man for a very long time, and yes, it can be hard to be patient with him all the damn time, but that's still no reason to hurt him like that."

"Is he doing okay?"

"Yeah, he was really happy today… you know, aside from another altercation with Kripke, which was kinda what made work today not so great."

"God, what happened this time?"

"Well, Sheldon and I needed to discuss something about Ophelia, our new assistant, so she stepped outside, and during that, Kripke was being a creep and trying to convince her to work with him instead… I think it's the fastest I've ever seen him move, and the way he pushed him away from her was pretty rough."

"Wow, Sheldon actually touching someone? To protect someone else? Hmmm…"

"Hmm what?"

"He must really like her. He usually can't even defend himself most of the time without soaking himself in Purell." She and Leonard both laughed at her remark.

Leonard ponders over Penny's last comment. "You might be on to something though… Ophelia was already in his office when I came to talk to him today. I mean, I highly doubt he has any romantic interest in her, but he has been super impressed with her; he actually was the first one to reply to her."

"You did say she was a genius, maybe she… blinded him with science, hahah,"

"Pffft, maybe," replied Leonard. "I doubt it, though. She just turned 30, so that's quite an age gap… she is working on her second doctorate, so he could be going crazy for some… Double D's!"

"Oh god," Penny rolls her eyes, but still can't help but chuckle at Leonard's joke.

Leonard looks at Penny admiringly, taking in her beautiful smile, and he puts him arm around her. "Going back to earlier, are you still sure you want to do this, have a baby? I don't want you to do anything you don't want to do. I love you no matter what."

Penny takes Leonard's free hand and moves it onto her belly. "I'm very sure. I mean, we're older now. We've been going without birth control or anything like that for a long while now… and for some reason I get pregnant now?! If we don't accept this now, the chance of this ever happening again is slim to none. I think it's the universe telling us this really is meant to be."

Leonard gets misty-eyed. "I'm gonna be a daddy."

Penny kissed Leonard, and they fall into a soft, celebratory make-out session on the couch.

…

_Buzz buzz. Buzz buzz. [1 NEW EMAIL]_

_Dear LLHOF80,_

_I'm contacting you because I noticed on my ancestry profile that you may be my biological father. I have been desperately been looking for this missing part of my life for quite a while now. I noticed on your profile that you live in Pasadena? I actually happen to be in the area as well. Please, I would really love to meet you and get to know you. I understand if you do not want any new attachments, especially if you have another family/set of children, but I would at least like to get a face with the (user)name? I'm best available Mondays and Thurdays after 5pm, as well as anytime on the weekends. Thanks so much in advance, and I look forward to possibly hearing from you and meeting you soon._

_Best,_

_Alberta H. Pointe_

_…_

"Thank you… for everything today," said Ophelia as she got under the covers on the right side of the bed.

"Oh of course," replied Sheldon, getting into the other side of the bed. "I'm sorry you ended up being stuck out there with Kripke. He just always has to make people uncomfortable to get his way, and it sadly works sometimes, and it makes me so angry. He hurts people, creeps them out… always attempts to steal… or cheat his way… through everything," Sheldon rants.

"Not surprising. Must be frustrating, too, that he's in your same field study."

"Ugh, don't remind me," Sheldon replied, annoyed at that simple fact.

"Well, may I also remind you that the one with the Nobel Prize is you… and not him? So, sure, it may work for him sometimes, but it'll never get him as far as where you are."

"You're right, that's always a great reminder. Goodness, Ophelia, you never seize to amaze me, do you?" Sheldon says, staring at her in pure awe.

"I could ask the same about you, Sheldon," Ophelia replies, staring happily into his beautiful blue eyes.

They softly smile at each other, and then kiss each other goodnight.

Ophelia opens her bedside table drawer to put her phone in there, when she discovers a silver, heart-shaped locket. She opens and looks inside it.

"Sheldon,"

"Yes?"

"Who's Amy?"


End file.
